Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lifted by A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.

A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2,652.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,782 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 54.3% of A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $185.62 and a 200-day moving average of $184.36. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.